Modified control software for imaging ultracold atomic clouds

A novel home-built system for imaging cold atom samples is presented using a readily available astronomy camera which has the requisite sensitivity but no timing-control. We integrate the camera with LabVIEW achieving fast, low-jitter imaging with a convenient user-defined interface. We show that our system takes precisely timed millisecond exposures and offers significant improvements in terms of system jitter and readout time over previously reported home-built systems. Our system rivals current commercial "black box" systems in performance and user-friendliness.

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Note: Design and implementation of a home-built imaging system with low jitter for cold atom experiments

Hachtel

Gillette

Clements

et al. 2016

“…The necessary components for such a system can, however, also be constructed in-house. Such an approach can be used to build low-cost setups to generate cold and ultracold atomic samples in undergraduate level laboratories [7][8][9][10][11][12] . A significant hurdle in such a setup is the construction of a laser frequency stabilization system which typically requires extensive analog electronics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A simple laser locking system based on a field-programmable gate array

Jørgensen

Birkmose

Trelborg

et al. 2016

Frequency stabilization of laser light is crucial in both scientific and industrial applications. Technological developments now allow analog laser stabilization systems to be replaced with digital electronics such as field-programmable gate arrays, which have recently been utilized to develop such locking systems. We have developed a frequency stabilization system based on a field-programmable gate array, with emphasis on hardware simplicity, which offers a user-friendly alternative to commercial and previous home-built solutions. Frequency modulation, lock-in detection and a proportional-integral-derivative controller are programmed on the field-programmable gate array and only minimal additional components are required to frequency stabilize a laser. The locking system is administered from a host-computer which provides comprehensive, long-distance control through a versatile interface. Various measurements were performed to characterize the system. The linewidth of the locked laser was measured to be 0.7 ± 0.1 MHz with a settling time of 10 ms. The system can thus fully match laser systems currently in use for atom trapping and cooling applications.

An open-source, extensible system for laboratory timing and control

Gaskell

Thorn

Alba

et al. 2009

We describe a simple system for timing and control, which provides control of analog, digital, and radio-frequency signals. Our system differs from most common laboratory setups in that it is open source, built from off-the-shelf components, synchronized to a common and accurate clock, and connected over an Ethernet network. A simple bus architecture facilitates creating new and specialized devices with only moderate experience in circuit design. Each device operates independently, requiring only an Ethernet network connection to the controlling computer, a clock signal, and a trigger signal. This makes the system highly robust and scalable. The devices can all be connected to a single external clock, allowing synchronous operation of a large number of devices for situations requiring precise timing of many parallel control and acquisition channels. Provided an accurate enough clock, these devices are capable of triggering events separated by one day with near-microsecond precision. We have achieved precisions of approximately 0.1 ppb (parts per 10(9)) over 16 s.